While I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.
This evening, 366 businesses that have scored a 100% Corporate Equality Index for LGBT employees will be honored by the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC. In 29 states, a person can be fired because of their sexual orientation. And it’s not just in jobs at religious organizations or faith-based institutions. It’s any job. And in Michigan, a person can be fired if the employer “thinks” (s)he is gay! Do you think Jesus would have an opinion about this?
What jobs are at the bottom of the “corporate ladder”? Who are the workers that get the brass ring? Why do you think we aspire to the brass ring when those who get it end up at the bottom of the ladder in Jesus’ new order? How can we esteem our brothers and sisters who have been “humbled” by the economic system?
On this day…. Worker justice during Holy Week.
Lisa Sharon Harper invites us to resist unjust authority–just as Jesus did–during this Holy Week and to journey with those who have been oppressed.
The temple had become a marketplace where money was exchanged and pilgrims could purchase animals for sacrifice. What is Jesus’ response to what he sees? What about the current marketplace of commerce and employment has made you angry. Are there ways that you (or together with other people of faith) can interrupt business as usual? Do you think our Fast Food Fast has had any impact on the way the marketplace operates? What more could we do?
Over 80 people from Logan Square congregations marched, sang, prayed and occupied the local McDonalds restaurant, delivering a message to the McDonald’s Corporation, “Pay your workers!” The Chicago Tribune posted a story about the event and promoted our Fast Food Fast.
Our Worker Justice Symposium received a brief item on the Spanish language Univision news. Special thanks to Aisha Pulido (People’s Tribune), Kyle Gilbertson (Chicago Teacher’s Union), Jorge Mújica (Arise Chicago) and Andy Willis (People’s Tribune) for educating us on the issues of worker justice and for helping us envision an economy of grace.
You can hear more about the economy of grace when Andy Willis preaches at Kimball Avenue Church on Sunday, April 12, at 10 am.
These Utah high school students caused quite a stir with their chocolate chip cookies!
(Thanks to Joy Ray for finding this news item)
Is slavery one of the ingredients in the packaging of wild caught seafood? Probably. According to an AP story, men from Burma are routinely enslaved to work the trawlers around Indonesia. And because most of the work happens offshore, the slavery is hard to document and track. These men, held by the “Lord of Death”, need the gospel of life!
(Thanks to Lisa Bartelt for drawing attention to this story.)
Jesus said to his disciples, “we must work the works of him who sent me” (verse 4). He later predicted that those who believed in him would do the same (and greater) works. As you reflect back on God’s works and the works of Jesus, what words come to mind about the nature of those works? How does that provide direction for your works in Jesus’ name—especially as it relates to low-wage workers? What should we expect to see happen when we do God’s work in the world?
There is no devotional for Sunday, March 29, 2015
This is the reason that we are on a Fast Food Fast for worker justice, why we are holding a Worker Justice Symposium ( WJ Symposium Poster ) TODAY at the Logan Square Library (1 pm), and why we are joining Arise Chicago, Interfaith Worker Justice and others on April 15 to call for a raise in the minimum wage.
Tongue on Fire 